Velayati made the remarks in a meeting with a number of prominent Shia tribal figures of Iraq on Monday in Tehran.
During the meeting, the Iranian senior official expressed hope that the continued exchange of delegations and visits of high-ranking political, religious, social and cultural figures would further improve the level of bilateral relations between the two countries.
“Unity and commonalities among our two nations are a treasure that cannot be purchased with money,” Velayati stressed. “Meanwhile, the US and the Zionist regime make every effort to take this treasure away from us.”
“If it were not for the cooperation between the two countries, Iraq would have been by now either partitioned by enemies’ sinister plots or taken over by terrorists,” he added.
The head of Tribal Affairs Office of Iraq, Jassim al-Kanani, for his part thanked Leader of Islamic Revolution as well as the nation and government of Iran for their support to the Iraqi nation in the fight against ISIL terrorists.
“Following the invasion of American forces, Iraq had no independent government for two years and was run by tribes; in fact, the US was not content to see Iraq as a secure and stable country,” he added.
He went on to add, “the Americans began hatching divisive plots and planned to undermine the unity among Iraqi people, but the Iraqi elites and prominent figures did not allow such a dream to be fulfilled.”
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